Guys, what is the word in the streets regarding the seriousness of Rafa's knees.. To my limited knowledge, there was nothing drastic that happened at Wimbledon that affected Rafa's health.. Is it the same chronic condition that affected him in 2009? The USO will miss Rafa.. No news yet of Soderling returning..

he is struggling to regain fitness in time........i am very angry........i never understand why he puts himself in such situations by overplaying in the first place........one explanation is that his game needs a lot of fine tuning but there are other ways to tune and that is on practice courts and stuff.......

he said once earlier in his career that he very rarely hits the gym and i think he should hit the gym more and play less to keep himself in shape and move well on the court........unnecessary participation in singles of insignificant events, doubles, mixed doubles, exhibitions etc. lead to these kinds of situations........

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Marian Vajda to Novak Djokovic, "I saw you beat that man like I never saw no man get beat before, and the man KEPT COMING AFTER YOU! Now we don't need no man like that in our lives."

Guys, what is the word in the streets regarding the seriousness of Rafa's knees.. To my limited knowledge, there was nothing drastic that happened at Wimbledon that affected Rafa's health.. Is it the same chronic condition that affected him in 2009? The USO will miss Rafa.. No news yet of Soderling returning..

he is struggling to regain fitness in time........i am very angry........i never understand why he puts himself in such situations by overplaying in the first place........one explanation is that his game needs a lot of fine tuning but there are other ways to tune and that is on practice courts and stuff.......

he said once earlier in his career that he very rarely hits the gym and i think he should hit the gym more and play less to keep himself in shape and move well on the court........unnecessary participation in singles of insignificant events, doubles, mixed doubles, exhibitions etc. lead to these kinds of situations........

This is where I think Rafa has come unstuk.. These mid-20s are supposedly the prime years of a top tennis professional.. Rafa is a freak and supremely-fit. Therefore, he believes in playing all those singles, doubles matches to build momentum, ahead of GSs.. However, his knees are telling him a different story now, squeaking with the pains associated with decades of gruelling practice and play?? Is there a solution for Rafa's woes or is he doomed to carry on this way until the fateful day he decides to swap the racquet for the golf club??

Guys, what is the word in the streets regarding the seriousness of Rafa's knees.. To my limited knowledge, there was nothing drastic that happened at Wimbledon that affected Rafa's health.. Is it the same chronic condition that affected him in 2009? The USO will miss Rafa.. No news yet of Soderling returning..

he is struggling to regain fitness in time........i am very angry........i never understand why he puts himself in such situations by overplaying in the first place........one explanation is that his game needs a lot of fine tuning but there are other ways to tune and that is on practice courts and stuff.......

he said once earlier in his career that he very rarely hits the gym and i think he should hit the gym more and play less to keep himself in shape and move well on the court........unnecessary participation in singles of insignificant events, doubles, mixed doubles, exhibitions etc. lead to these kinds of situations........

This is where I think Rafa has come unstuk.. These mid-20s are supposedly the prime years of a top tennis professional.. Rafa is a freak and supremely-fit. Therefore, he believes in playing all those singles, doubles matches to build momentum, ahead of GSs.. However, his knees are telling him a different story now, squeaking with the pains associated with decades of gruelling practice and play?? Is there a solution for Rafa's woes or is he doomed to carry on this way until the fateful day he decides to swap the racquet for the golf club??

2. Instead of trying to get ready for Davis Cup on clay, he was out there this past weekend in Mallorca playing in a pro-am golf tournament. Everyone knows the left leg in golf for a right handed swing (Rafa plays golf right-handed) gets a lot of knee strain.What the hell is he doing???

It looks bad for him to be playing in a pro-am golf tournament when he is not fit enough to play tennis. I'm surprised the ATP/ITF condones this. Imagine if Roger Federer withdrew saying he was hurt, and decided to compete in a skiing slalom race instead of playing in the US Open...

It makes it seems as if he has either lost his desire to compete in tennis, or is being prevented from playing.Muster was almost an invalid and he spent hours every day hitting balls while he was rehabilitating.

Rafa must be gutted not being able to challenge Federer, Djokovic and Murray on the hardcourts in NY.. Alternatively, Rafa chillaxing on the golf courses in Mallorca brings a smile to my face.. If there is 1 guy who deserves every moment of quiet pleasure that comes his way, it is this fella!! I will patiently wait for the day he comes back to play pro tennis..

he had this long break coming........he brought it upon himself.........his 2005 foot injury and the subsequent adjustments to his shoes in order to redirect that stress elsewhere(to his knees) had already netted him into a series of troubles........the only way to cope with that was to schedule carefully........he did it once in 2010 and the reward was 3 slams straightaway........the funny thing is no one knows it better than himself and yet he is reckless with scheduling........

did he really need those small clay titles in european clay season and doubles titles of IW, miami? one week of tennis on top of a small injury is enough to destroy those tendons........i suspect that is what happened this time........he is taking longer than expected to recover........

at the moment he is terrified of touching the racket because he knows his current fitness level........there is no doubt that he will hit back hard and win slams again but that mad spree of events in the first half of the season needs to go........no need to play smaller events, doubles, exhos and also no need to play when injured........

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Marian Vajda to Novak Djokovic, "I saw you beat that man like I never saw no man get beat before, and the man KEPT COMING AFTER YOU! Now we don't need no man like that in our lives."

Shank, if he does not play smaller events, doubles, he will be entering the GS, Masters without match fitness. Rafa is big on the need for momentum.. There is no substitute for match play, even for the best in the world.. Rafa says the problem will be fixed permanently only through surgery, in which case he could be out for 6 months.. Can he take this option, realistically? Will the ATP give Rafa an escape clause so he can play more clay/grass court tournaments and lower the number of mandatory hard court events?

Shank, if he does not play smaller events, doubles, he will be entering the GS, Masters without match fitness. Rafa is big on the need for momentum.. There is no substitute for match play, even for the best in the world.. Rafa says the problem will be fixed permanently only through surgery, in which case he could be out for 6 months.. Can he take this option, realistically? Will the ATP give Rafa an escape clause so he can play more clay/grass court tournaments and lower the number of mandatory hard court events?

imo he plays more than required.......did he really need barcelona, madrid, doubles to win roland garros? he barely plays anything before the AO and look at his record at that slam, it's great........no matter how much he plays or practices before an event, he's again the same slow starter who really doesn't get going until 3rd or 4th round........

i agree that he will be short of matchplay for some masters events but at this point masters events shouldn't be an issue as long as he has no problem catching form fast at slams........less play is definitely better than sitting out of slams entirely........

« Last Edit: September 29, 2012, 04:49:01 AM by Start da Game »

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Marian Vajda to Novak Djokovic, "I saw you beat that man like I never saw no man get beat before, and the man KEPT COMING AFTER YOU! Now we don't need no man like that in our lives."

Another bout of bad news for all of us Rafa fans. Unfortunately, due to a stomach virus, Nadal has pulled out of both Doha and the Australian Open, and has said he's not looking to return to the courts until the clay courts in late February (Acapulco, I think)

It is only sensible to drop the Aussie Open from the calendar when Rafa is suffering with stomach virus, especially after a long injury lay-off.. It would have been very difficult to resume playing tennis in a 5-set event.. I hope Rafa returns in February, fresh and fit, wherever that may be..

My sentiments exactly.. A few nights ago I was watching the replay of last season's Aussie Open final and thinking Rafael played a super match and should have rightly won it [had he won the 7th game in the final set].. Later, I read online that Rafael had withdrawn from the 2013 Aussie Open due to a stomach infection.

That was a great match, but Rafa definitely uncharacteristically choked on a big moment. He was up a break and 30-15 and shot an easy net winner wide right, and it was all downhill from there. I haven't watched a replay or re-watched it since it happened, but I still remember it vividly. So depressing